“Word around the Web is that Jason Tomczak filed a lawsuit alleging that the music players ‘scratch excessively during normal usage, rendering the screens on the Nanos unreadable,'” Alyce Lomax writes for The Motley Fool. “…Debate rages on the subject of the nano’s tendency to scratch or not — after all, some have subjected the nano to strenuous torture tests, with the guys at Ars Technica dropping one at various speeds and running it over with cars — but I can’t help thinking that continued buzz about the nano’s propensity for scratched or otherwise damaged screens just can’t be good for Apple.”
“After all, Apple has always been known for its elegant products, and the very idea that is being bandied about — that the company knew the nano had a design flaw and released it anyway — is just not good PR,” Lomax writes. “Will this hurt Apple? …I can’t help wondering whether all of this bad press might frighten some shoppers away from the iPod nano and give the Apple brand a few scratches as well.”
Full article here.
[UPDATE: 3:30pm ET: Revised headline to drop “class-action.”]
Advertisement: Apple iPod nano. 1,000 songs. Impossibly small. From $199. Free shipping.
Joy.
Related articles:
Class-action lawsuit filed against Apple over iPod nano scratches – October 21, 2005
PC Mag’s Ulanoff on iPod nano scratches: ‘I could see a jealous competitor planting the story’ – October 06, 2005
Mossberg: Apple iPod nano scratches easily, get a case to protect it – October 06, 2005
Apple iPods have always been far too scratchable, protective cases required to keep iPods pristine – September 30, 2005
invisibleSHIELD offers rugged, clear protection for Apple iPod nano and other iPod models – September 30, 2005
Got some nano scratches? Restore your iPod nano to new condition with a $4 can of Brasso – September 29, 2005
The Motley Fool: Apple did the right thing in quickly addressing cracked iPod nano screens – September 28, 2005
iPod nano ‘screen issues’ really just FUD? – September 26, 2005
Apple responds to iPod nano screen issues – September 27, 2005
Actually, I think it’s a case of more and more of the mass market (read: idiots) are buying the iPods. The lower we go, the more the idea of protecting a $250 item is less understood…. just a theory…
now precisely why they can’t come with rubberish case already i don’t know. work with a third party and produce a rubber sleve transparent of course to come with it as standard, it would be of course replaceable with other colours and would shut everybody up
I think this whole thing is purely a way to try to slow Apple down and cause them harm. I almost get the feeling that this lawsuit is being encouraged by Apple’s competition. If you can’t beat them smear them. Apple should counter sue Jason nad his crack leagal team for defemation and lost revenue.
I find it amazing that nobody has filed a class action suit against Microsoft for Windows vulnerabilities and defects.
Now there’s something worth suing over!
I just spend $2600 and now I have a dead pixel. Can I sue Apple?
i have found DVD’s and CD’s have a severe scratching problem
wait so does my car
MAN! Just look at all the pathetic, CLUELESS Apple apologists in this thread!
The problem is REAL morons!
The things scratch all to hell by just putting the delicate piece of crap in your shirt pocket for a few hours!
I have experienced it first hand. Returned mine for a Mini where there be no scratches at all!
I use to defend the blindly loyal Apple fanatic, but this whole incident has made me realize that you jokers are no better than Windows apologists!
Get a fricking CLUE!
Im going to sue microsoft because they took windblows to market knowing it to be an inferior product. A few scratches…give me a break. Viruses, malware, inferior security and a sheer lack of respect for style, this is cause for litigation
I hope Apple buries that little cvnt.
“He (Tomczak) claims in the suit that the screen was so easily scratched that even rubbing a paper towel across it left significant marks. The suit also claims that putting the Nano in your pocket with items such as car keys, coins, a credit card or the device’s headphones can render the screen hard to read.”
Note to Tomczak: for best results, clean iPod with 60 grit sand paper, place back in pocket with broken glass, nails and other various sharp objects, reinsert head in a$$.
I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, no pun intended, but I usually clean my iPods (and cds and sunglasses and dvds and my laptop) with a SOFT cloth
oh yeah,
maybe jason also uses those “soft” paper towels to wipe his a$$.
yoweeeeeee
what a bafoon!
Hey man, my fridge broke down after only 8 years use. I thought it would last at least 15 years. Can I sue Kelvinator.
A share of the profits ? hhmm.. It’s probably worth investing the 2fiddy on one of these nanos. I could do with a share of 4million.
what an idiot. But I think the lawyers are probably more stupid than he is for taking on this case.
I doubt it will hurt Apple too much unless the mainstream media pick it up and make it a larger issue without reporting the whole story.
I still don’t get all the fuss. I have a nano and bought a case for it right away. Any portable computer screen needs to have protection from wear and tear. This sounds like the dead pixel issue with the PSP. That didn’t bug me either (I have two dead pixels that my eyes no longer even pick out). Maybe I’m just willing to put up with imperfections?
Scut said: I doubt it will hurt Apple too much unless the mainstream media pick it up and make it a larger issue without reporting the whole story.
Oi Scut, where have you been living? Have you not noticed that it HAS been picked up by the media? It’s spread to all important news outlets online and at least in the UK to several newspapers and the BBC.
“Reporting the whole story is irrelevant. Most people just look at the headline and form an opinion.
Try to tell me that this is not an orchestrated attack against the Nano/Apple!
MW: sales (!!), as in it will affect sales to non-iPod owners
In answer to the headline, not very likely.
However I did notice ‘Fudge” up above, was getting VERY macdailynews defensive, when this was a story far more appropriate for their ipoddailynews site.
Oh well, once a fudge, always a fudge.
This is not news. This is America, the iPod nano is a beautiful device – uncanny almost.It will continue to sell like hell for all the right reasons.
But there are a lot of Apple apolgists here – I guess it is a Mac site so that should be expected, but for those “reaching” for a conspiracy theory – thinking the competition might be behind this, they should solve the JFK thing for us too.
Aussie is right, go inside, close your doors, and don’t come out. Nothing bad will ever happen then – oh apart from dying – eventually….
Give me a break – give all of us a break!
MW: as in “packer”